


chest still hollow

by protoagaz



Series: zenzen daijobanai [3]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-27
Updated: 2014-06-27
Packaged: 2018-02-06 09:43:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1853416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/protoagaz/pseuds/protoagaz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Corazon wants to help Law with his sickness. For Law, it's already too late.</p>
            </blockquote>





	chest still hollow

Trafalgar Law sat on the bed and forced his posture straight against the lingering ache in his stomach. It wasn't difficult, no more difficult than excusing the shadows around his eyes as weariness or hiding the rash that had already begun to creep its way down his arms. The pressure to stay the same was more than enough to mold him into normalcy, for all that he didn't feel normal.

He cleared a sore throat, and his eyes wandered back to the book lying open on his desk for what felt like the twentieth time in the past ten minutes. The words had engraved themselves in his memory, and just a glance at the book played them again, coupling them this time with a mental vision all too clear that pushed the remainders of last night's sickness forward into nausea again. His face settled into the old frown, and try as he might he couldn't remove it.

Footsteps sounded outside his door, followed by a light knock, all of it barely sparking his interest. He kept quiet, drawing his knees up to his chest to wrap both arms around them, a pose that eased the ache if only slightly.

"Law?" The voice was muffled by the door, faintly familiar. "Are you awake? It's Corazon. I just got back."

The name stung like a sharp slap on his cheek, making him clutch his knees to his chest more tightly. Despite himself, the words came out: "The door's not locked." He swallowed against the rawness lining his throat again, as the doorknob turned and the old thin creak of hinges filled the air.

The atmosphere changed, as it always did, with Corazon's entrance - a charisma as nonthreatening as Doflamingo's was unnerving. He was as tall as his brother, filling the room despite its relative spaciousness. Even with the harsh angles of his face, Law felt a begrudging comfort just at his presence.

"Welcome back." He tried to smile, feeling it stop at little more than a softening of his frown.

"I'm glad to see you again." Corazon returned the smile, and folded his arms. "My brother tells me that you've been sick. Are you feeling better?"

Hastily Law nodded. "I'm fine."

"Hmm..." Closing the door, Corazon took another few steps into the room, tilting his head to study Law with the gaze full of perception that the boy knew well. "Are you sure? I've already heard you were still sick last night. Do you want to see a doctor?"

"No!" The edge in Law's voice was audible even to him, and he couldn't erase it no matter how much effort he poured into the trying. Corazon's smile faded into something dangerously close to concern, even as Law continued. "I just had too much to eat last night. I'm fine."

Corazon nodded, just a bit more slowly and thoughtfully than he should have. "I see...." He turned away from Law, and his gaze fell on the book that still lay open on the desk.

Law bit at the inside of his cheek nearly hard enough to draw blood, his fingers cramped and sore from clinging to his own knees. His mind spun as Corazon approached the desk; try as he might he couldn't sort out the feelings, let alone classify them into something aside from a black lump of negativity. Fear, aggravation, panic, worry, dread, all of it had blended bright angry colors together into the furthest thing from anything sharp or clear. He swallowed again, nearly choked on the soreness of his throat.

The silence went on for far too long. Law's senses screamed at him to interrupt, to distract Corazon from reading each condemning word on the bared pages, and he couldn't move.

"Celiac disease..." said Corazon softly, after what felt like horrific ages.

He turned to look at Law again, the worry plain on his face. "Is this what's wrong? You've been forcing yourself to eat things you shouldn't?"

The words were like the stab of a fork into a raw egg, shattering the shell of barriers Law had built around memories he didn't want to think about, and everything came back. The scent and taste and texture of bread filling his senses, morning after morning and evening after evening spent on meals that would leave him gasping and retching for hours afterward; the unspoken disapproval of his sickness, coupled with a sort of silent frustration at his own ungrateful refusal to eat food prepared for his own benefit; and worst of all, the smile on Doflamingo's face, the sadistic twisting of his fingers in midair. The way Law's body moved on its own, the way his fingers picked up the food that made him sick even in memory and pushed it into his mouth, the way he chewed it and swallowed it again and again until Doflamingo lost interest in the day's lesson.

"I'm fine!" He yelled out the words, struggling to make the sound of his voice lock the memories back up where they couldn't see the light. "Leave me alone!"

Corazon said nothing, only kneeling by the bed, until the sharp pain that cut through Law's torso had faded and he'd caught his breath.

"Law..." the man finally began, in a voice he hadn't heard for years. "You're my little brother. You know that. If you can't eat these things, if they make you sick, just tell me. Tell me what you need and I'll make sure you get it."

The soft, gentle, fatherly tone battered at Law until the tears came into his eyes, and he gritted his teeth against them until his jaw ached incessantly. He shook his head, throat throbbing painfully, choking words out past the lump that shoved more tears into his eyes even as he blinked them back. "No, no. Don't say things like that. You've done enough for me already."

"What!?" Corazon reached out, took Law's shoulder in one hand. "You shouldn't be the one saying things like that! Just because I saved your life doesn't mean I'm going to stop taking care of you now!"

The weight of anger laid heavy in Law's stomach, tight muscles destroying what little sense of wellness he'd had, until he was gulping back nausea again along with the tears that burned down his cheeks. He kept his head down, hiding his face in the shadow of his hat's brim, and Corazon's voice continued to break him down.

"Law, I have a responsibility for you...do you understand? I can't stand by and watch you be sick like this, because of something that we can change so easily. I'll go talk to the cook - I know he can make food for you. The most important thing right now for me is to help you get better."

Corazon was back on his feet suddenly, and Law could barely move his head to look up, could barely see anything through blurred eyes. "No," he bit out, around a sob he couldn't stop. "Don't."

He didn't see the man's face, but heard all too clearly the fatherly tone return. "I'm your big brother, and I have to do what's best for you. Don't worry about this."

Somehow, he managed to hold himself back until Corazon was gone and the door was closed; then he cried, pulling the hat over his face and sobbing into it like the nightmare-plagued child he'd been years ago. All the while Doflamingo's face lingered in his mind, grinning maliciously over all the steaming baskets of bread that were placed on the table every day.

Eventually the thought of it grew too strong, making him gag on the horror of the next time Corazon would depart, the next time Doflamingo would have a chance to teach Law the meaning of appreciating what was offered him. He fled to the bathroom with nausea twisting his stomach and curled up on the floor until finally the tears stopped and he could doze, if only for a few minutes.

The next day, Corazon was dead.


End file.
